The Pilgrim Trust
Preservation and Social Welfare
The Pilgrim Trust was set up in 1930 with a capital endowment of just over two million pounds. On average, the Trustees commit in the region of £1.5 million each year in grants. The trustees produce guidelines for applicants, which are reviewed every three years. Their current priorities are:
Preservation
The trustees currently aim to allocate about 60% of annual grants to this area of interest. They have a special interest in:
The preservation of historic buildings and architectural features, particularly projects giving a new use to buildings that are of outstanding architectural or historic interest. However, Trustees will only consider the repairs to historic fabric, not the installation of new facilities. Trustees will consider supporting core costs and the cost of initial exploratory works for organisations seeking to rescue important buildings or groups of building.
Conservation of works of art, books, manuscripts, photographs and documents, museum objects, where such conservation is outside the normal day to day activities of the applying organisation. Trustees will look more sympathetically at organisations based outside London.
Promotion of knowledge through academic research and its dissemination, for which public funding is not available, including cataloguing. Applications for the costs of preparing such work for publication will be considered but not the actual application costs.
Places of worship (Grants for this area of interest come from the allocation for preservation and scholarship). The Pilgrim Trust makes annual block grants for the repair of the fabric of historic churches of any denomination to the Historic Churches Preservation Trust for churches in England and Wales and to the Scottish Churches Architectural Heritage Trust. Applications should therefore be addressed directly to the appropriate body.
Social welfare
Trustees currently aim to allocate about 40% of annual grants to this area of interest:
Projects that assist and support people involved in alcohol or drug misuse. Trustees have a special interest in the provision of specialist services for young people, for those from black or ethnic minority groups and for women with multiple needs. They would look favourably at new models of service provision for these groups.
Projects in prisons and projects providing alternatives to custody. Trustees have a particular interest in projects that assist prisoners to acquire new skills or give support to their families.
Trustees will consider projects that seek to inform and develop policy and practice in the priority areas outlined above. Applications from all parts of the
UK are welcomed but Trustees are keen to support areas of the country where
financial support from other sources is difficult to obtain. They particularly welcome collaboration between organisations to achieve their joint aims.
Grants may be offered for more than one financial year, but the Trustees are
reluctant to make recurring grants for more than three years. Trustees will support both project and core costs, but will expect applicants to demonstrate that they are planning for their future funding where core costs are involved. There are no deadlines.
The trustees also run a small grants fund and set aside 10% of their annual grant giving from each area of interest for applications of £5,000 or less. These applications normally require less detailed assessment, whereas a site visit or meeting may be required for larger applications. Applicants for sums of less than £5,000 should include the names of two referees from organisations with which they work
Full guidelines and an application form are available on the website or contact:
Georgina Nayler, Director The Pilgrim Trust, Cowley House, 9 Little College Street, London SW1P 3SH
Tel: 020 7222 4723
Fax: 020 7976 0461
E-mail: georgina.nayler@thepilgrimtrust.org.uk
Website: www.thepilgrimtrust.org.uk